Council Meeting (Agenda) 14 April 2010Please use a browser that enables Javascript.請使用可執行 Javascript 的瀏覽器。

A 09/10-22

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 14 April 2010 at 11:00 am and
Thursday 15 April 2010 at 9:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments

L.N. No.

1.

Dutiable Commodities (Exempted Quantities) (Amendment) Notice 2010

35/2010

2.

Education Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 3) Notice 2010

36/2010

3.

Import and Export (Amendment) Ordinance 2007 (Commencement) Notice

37/2010

Other Papers

1.

No. 82

-

Audited statement of accounts together with the Director of Audit's report of the Hong Kong Rotary Club Students' Loan Fund for the year ended 31 August 2009

(to be presented by the Secretary for Education)

2.

No. 83

-

Audited statement of accounts together with the Director of Audit's report of the Sing Tao Charitable Foundation Students' Loan Fund for the year ended 31 August 2009

(to be presented by the Secretary for Education)

3.

No. 84

-

The Financial Reporting Council Annual Report 2009

(to be presented by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury)

4.

No. 85

-

Research Endowment Fund
Audited financial statements together with the Report of the Director of Audit for the period from 6 February 2009 (date of establishment of the Fund) to 31 August 2009

(to be presented by the Secretary for Education)

5.

No. 86

-

Audited statement of accounts of the Quality Education Fund for the year ended 31 August 2009

(to be presented by the Secretary for Education)

6.

No. 87

-

Audited statement of accounts of the Education Development Fund for the year ended 31 August 2009

(to be presented by the Secretary for Education)

7.

Report No. 7/09-10 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments

(to be presented by Hon Miriam LAU, Chairman of the House Committee)

II. Questions for Written Replies

1. Hon Paul CHAN to ask:

It was reported that the Criminal Investigation Division ("CID") of the Internal Revenue Service of the United States ("US") employed personnel (such as investigators, etc.) to work in its overseas offices for tax enforcement purposes. It was also reported that the Commissioner of Internal Revenue of the US had said that the number of personnel working in those offices would be increased this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)

whether it knows if CID personnel have ever worked in Hong Kong for the aforesaid purposes and if they are still working in Hong Kong at present; if they have worked in Hong Kong, of their number in each of the past five years and which category of visa they were granted for entering Hong Kong and carrying out their duties; and

(b)

given that members of the trade have indicated that countries do not normally assist one another in enforcing their respective tax laws and the US has not been willing to enter into negotiations with Hong Kong on a comprehensive double taxation agreement, and that the US had, in seeking to obtain information from a bank in Switzerland for US tax enforcement purposes, used a "fishing expedition" approach which is not permitted under the standards of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development or under the relevant legislation of Hong Kong, whether the Government has assessed if it is in Hong Kong's best interests to have such CID personnel working in Hong Kong for the aforesaid purposes?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

2. Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG to ask: (Translation)

The fire which occurred on 8 March this year at an industrial building at Castle Peak Road in Cheung Sha Wan caused a tragedy in which one senior fireman died on duty and three firemen were injured. It was reported that the industrial building at which the fire occurred was constructed in 1961, and had no automatic sprinkler system installed. Although the existing legislation does not require that industrial buildings which were constructed in or before the 1960s must be installed with automatic sprinkler systems, this fire has revealed the potential problems of fire safety of certain old industrial buildings in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)

of the respective numbers, broken down by District Council district, of industrial buildings, godowns and warehouses in Hong Kong which do not have automatic sprinkler systems installed at present;

(b)

whether the authorities will explore the feasibility of making it a mandatory requirement for all old industrial buildings, which were constructed in or before the 1960s in Hong Kong, to be installed with automatic sprinkler systems; if they will not, of the reasons for that;

(c)

whether the authorities will review the Fire Safety (Buildings) Ordinance (Cap. 572) and expand its relevant scope of application to cover composite buildings which were constructed on or before 1 March 1987, and of which the part for non-domestic purposes consists of "a factory or industrial undertaking, godown, warehouse or place of bulk storage";

(d)

focusing on the situation where old industrial buildings which were constructed in or before the 1960s are not required to be installed with automatic sprinkler systems, what special measures the authorities have at present to plug the loophole in fire safety; whether the authorities will implement more new measures to enhance the fire safety of old industrial buildings after the aforesaid fatal fire; and

(e)

given that it was reported that three fatal fires had occurred one after another since 2007, causing tragedies in which a total of four firemen died on duty during fire-fighting operations, and all such fires had occurred at old commercial/residential or industrial buildings, whether the Fire Services Department will review if there are loopholes in its current strategy on fire-fighting in such buildings?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

3. Hon LEE Cheuk-yan to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the statistics collected from household income quarterly General Household Surveys, will the Government provide the relevant data for the past six years:

(a)

the range, median and mean of the annual income for each of the 10 decile groups obtained by dividing the number of all Hong Kong households according to their annual income (excluding foreign domestic helpers ("FDHs") and listed in ascending order); and

(b)

the range, median and mean of the annual per capita household income for each of the 10 decile groups obtained by dividing the number of all Hong Kong people (excluding FDHs) according to their per capita household income (listed in ascending order)?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

4. Hon Ronny TONG to ask: (Translation)

It has been recently reported that some mobile network users have complained that recently their mobile phones received some unsolicited "tricky short messages" which sought to provide mobile content services to them, and if they did not reply to indicate their refusal to receive such services, the mobile network operators ("MNOs") concerned would start charging them service fees, some of which were as high as $24 per message. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)

whether the Office of the Telecommunications Authority ("OFTA") had received complaints related to the aforesaid chargeable short messages last year; if it had, of the number of such complaints, the follow-up actions taken by OFTA and the outcome thereof;

(b)

whether it has assessed if the aforesaid charging practice of the MNOs concerned constitutes a breach of the existing provisions in the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Ordinance (Cap. 593); if the assessment outcome indicates that it constitutes a breach, of the details; if not, whether the authorities will consider amending the legislation to step up the regulation of such practice; and

(c)

apart from relying on compliance by the industry with the code introduced on 11 January this year, whether OFTA will consider adopting other measures to curb the aforesaid practice?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

5. Dr Hon LEUNG Ka-lau to ask: (Translation)

On 18 March this year the Census and Statistics Department released the 2009 Report on Annual Earnings and Hours Survey (the "Survey Report"), which set out the hourly wage level and distribution of Hong Kong employees in the second quarter of 2009. In this connection, will the Government provide the following breakdown of the weekly working hours of employees in the second quarter of 2009 according to the data in the Survey Report:

(a)

distribution of working hours of all employees (set out in the table below):

Percentile

Weekly working hours

Number of employees whose actual weekly working hours were more than that of the percentile

10th

25th

50th

Each one from 75th To 99th

(b)

distribution of the total number of employees analysed by weekly working hours (set out in the table below):

Weekly working hours

Number of employees whose actual weekly working hour was more

40

44

48

52

56

60

64

68

72

(c)

the 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 80th, 85th, 90th and 95th percentiles of the weekly working hour distribution analysed by the following profiles (set out in the format used in Tables 9 to 13 of the Survey Report respectively):

(i)

sex and age group;

(ii)

sex and educational attainment;

(iii)

occupational group and sex;

(iv)

industry section (set out by all establishments and establishments with number of persons engaged less than 50 respectively); and

(v)

industry section and occupational group; and

(d)

distribution of the total number of employees analysed by industry section and weekly working hours (set out in the format used in Table 14(a) of the Survey Report)?

Industry section

Total number of employees

Weekly working hours

<40

40 to <44

44 to <48

48 to <52

52 to <56

56 to <60

60 to <64

64 to <68

68 to <72

≥72

set out by industry section in Table 14(a) of the Survey Report

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

6. Hon TAM Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)

Recently, some residents of various private housing estates have relayed to me that they are concerned that they are required to take on the responsibilities to manage and maintain the footbridges which were built for public use within the areas of their housing estates. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)

of the current total number of footbridges in Hong Kong which were built, for public use under the requirements of the land lease, within the areas of private developments, and among them, a list of those the management and maintenance responsibilities for which are to be borne by the developers or property owners of the developments concerned, according to the land lease or deed of dedication; and

(b)

whether the authorities have, since 1980, granted waivers to developers or property owners in respect of their responsibilities to manage and maintain the aforesaid types of footbridges, and re-assigned the responsibilities to the government departments concerned; if they have, of a list of such footbridges, the year in which and the reasons why such waivers were granted, as well as the factors considered by the government departments concerned?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

7. Hon LAU Wong-fat to ask: (Translation)

The Road Traffic Legislation (Amendment) Ordinance 2008 ("the Amendment Ordinance") was enacted in 2008 to implement measures such as empowering police officers to conduct random breath test on drivers and raising the penalties on drink driving offences, in order to step up efforts in combating drink driving. The Amendment Ordinance came into operation on 9 February last year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)

of the respective numbers of traffic accidents caused by drink driving in each of the 12 months before and after the Amendment Ordinance came into operation; and

(b)

whether the authorities have any plan to assess the effectiveness of the aforesaid measures, and whether it is necessary to further step up measures to combat drink driving?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

8. Hon Jeffrey LAM to ask: (Translation)

In her reply on 16 March this year to my question in relation to the examination of the Estimates of Expenditure 2010-2011, the Director of Environmental Protection indicated that discussions were being held with franchised bus companies about launching a Government-funded trial of retrofitting Euro II and III buses with selective catalytic reduction devices to reduce nitrogen oxides emissions. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)

of the latest progress of and the implementation timetable for the aforesaid trial;

(b)

whether it has studied the experience of other places in using selective catalytic reduction devices, including the effectiveness of such devices in reducing nitrogen oxides emissions and the prices;

(c)

whether it will consider giving priority to retrofitting selective catalytic reduction devices on buses which at present run in busy areas (such as Mong Kok, Central and Causeway Bay, etc.); and

(d)

apart from retrofitting selective catalytic reduction devices, whether at present there are other means to help reduce emissions from Euro II and III buses?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

9. Hon James TO to ask: (Translation)

I have learnt that the authorities have indicated earlier that they hope to reduce the number of operators in the New Yau Ma Tei Public Cargo Working Area ("PCWA") through "natural wastage" (i.e. by not inviting tenders for the business concerned after the operators closed down their business), in order to reduce the area of PCWA, and they plan to ultimately develop PCWA into a harbourfront green belt. In his Policy Address delivered on 15 October 2008, the Chief Executive proposed to beautify the harbourfront, study the feasibility of conducting medium and long-term re-planning of the harbour, improve the accessibility of the harbourfront and, in consultation with District Councils, proceed with the construction of waterfront promenades. Moreover, the Secretary for Development has indicated on a number of occasions that the relocation of the public facilities within the harbourfront areas is under review. Yet, I have learnt that in September last year, the authorities approved a project of the Marine Department to construct a control centre at PCWA, and the authorities had never accounted for the project details at any meeting of this Council beforehand. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)

what government departments and other organizations the Marine Department had consulted in relation to the project to construct the control centre, and whether it had received any objection or other comments during the consultation process; if so, of the contents of the comments;

(b)

given that the authorities have earlier decided to move the relevant government facilities inward, so as to tie in with the development of a waterfront promenade in To Kwa Wan, of the principles which at present have to be met by projects of government departments to construct buildings within the harbourfront areas, in order to prevent the buildings from impeding efforts to beautify the harbourfront; whether there is any guideline specifying that government departments have to consult District Councils and other organizations in the respective districts in putting forward the construction projects concerned;

(c)

of the respective numbers of operators which closed down their business in PCWA in each of the past three years; whether the authorities had invited tenders again for the business concerned; if so, of the number of new operators which have joined as well as the total number of operators at present;

(d)

given that I have learnt that the aforesaid control centre will be involved in the management and operation of PCWA, whether the authorities have assessed if the construction of the control centre has violated the original intention of reducing the number of operators through "natural wastage" and reducing the area of PCWA as they have indicated earlier, as well as hampered PCWA's development into a harbourfront green belt; if an assessment has been conducted, of the outcome;

(e)

whether the authorities had, in the past three years, assessed the impact of the construction of the aforesaid control centre on the development of a waterfront promenade connecting the Tai Kok Tsui area and the West Kowloon Cultural District, and whether they had considered dovetailing the existing development plan with the future development of a waterfront promenade; if they had, of the details; and

(f)

apart from the aforesaid construction project, of the respective numbers of projects approved by the authorities in each of the past three years for government departments and private developers to construct buildings within the harbourfront areas, as well as their details?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

10. Hon CHEUNG Hok-ming to ask: (Translation)

The Government, in collaboration with the Hong Kong Housing Society and the Urban Renewal Authority, launched a two-billion dollar Operation Building Bright ("OBB") in 2009 to provide subsidies and one-stop technical assistance to help owners of some 2 000 target buildings which are 30 years old or over to carry out repair works. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)

whether the authorities has, since the implementation of OBB, assessed if there have been adjustments in the costs of the repair works of the target buildings due to the upsurge in the amount of works; if such an assessment has been conducted, of the specific details; and

(b)

given that one of the criteria to be met by target buildings of OBB is "the buildings comprise no more than 400 residential units", whether the authorities will consider relaxing such a requirement so as to enable more buildings to meet the criteria?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

11. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department ("LCSD") conducted a questionnaire survey in 2008 so as to study the participation patterns of members of the public in physical activities and sports. According to the findings of the survey, swimming ranked second among the sports in which the public had participated most frequently and was also the sport which they were most eager to learn. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)

of the average monthly attendances at public swimming pools in the past three years (set out in table form) after discounting the numbers during the implementation of the Free Admission Scheme of LCSD Leisure Facilities in 2008;

(b)

whether the authorities have conducted surveys again after completing the aforesaid questionnaire survey in 2008 so as to study the utilization of public swimming pools by members of the public (including the weekly number of attendances) and their satisfaction levels towards the services in public swimming pools; if so, of the findings; if not, the reasons for that, and whether it will consider conducting such surveys;

(c)

of the number of public swimming pools which will be completed and commissioned in the next three years according to the existing plan; focusing on the findings of the aforesaid survey, whether the authorities will expedite the pace of constructing public swimming pools;

(d)

of the criteria based on which the authorities set the admission fees for public swimming pools;

(e)

given that the admission fees for the public swimming pools in the New Territories during weekends, Sundays and public holidays are higher than those for weekdays, whether the authorities will consider standardizing the admission fees based on those for weekdays, so as to encourage more members of the public to use public swimming pools; and

(f)

given that LCSD has indicated to quite a number of District Councils (including Sha Tin District Council) last year that it would conduct a feasibility study on the proposal to launch monthly tickets for public swimming pools, of the progress of the study, and when it will decide on whether or not such monthly tickets will be launched?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

12. Hon Fred LI to ask: (Translation)

It has been learnt that as part of the listing requirements, The Link Real Estate Investment Trust ("The Link REIT") had given an undertaking to the Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA") that it would carry out in phases the upgrading of the fire safety installations in the retail and car parking facilities under its management, so as to comply with the latest requirements under the Fire Safety (Commercial Premises) Ordinance (Cap. 502). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)

whether it knows the number of the upgrading projects of fire safety installations that The Link Management Limited ("The Link"), which manages The Link REIT, has originally undertaken to carry out in phases, and in how many phases the projects will be completed; among them, the respective numbers of projects which have been completed and have not yet been completed and the details (including the contents of the projects, the completion dates originally pledged, and the actual or expected completion dates) of the projects, listed by the housing estate where the facilities are located; among them, the number of facilities which comprise public space; according to current progress, when all the upgrading projects will be completed;

(b)

whether the Fire Services Department has issued any fire safety direction to The Link on grounds that the shopping arcades and car parking facilities under its management have failed to comply with the requirements under the Fire Safety (Commercial Premises) Ordinance; if so, of the details, including when The Link was required to complete all the necessary upgrading projects of fire safety installations and the details of such projects, listed by the housing estate where the facilities are located; and

(c)

whether the authorities have assessed the fire hazards the public face in using shopping arcades or car parking facilities for which the upgrading projects of fire safety installations have not yet been completed; if so, whether HA, as the manager of the Deed of Mutual Covenant, has required The Link to complete the upgrading projects by a specified deadline; if so, of the details?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

13. Hon Miriam LAU to ask: (Translation)

Regarding driving training and driving test systems, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)

of the number of traffic accidents in each of the past three years which involved drivers holding a probationary driving licence and the resultant casualties;

(b)

whether the authorities had, in the past three years, studied the driving training and driving test systems in other places; if they had, of the results, and how such systems compare with those in Hong Kong; if not, the reasons for that; and

(c)

whether it will review the existing driving training and driving test systems in Hong Kong, with a view to reducing traffic accidents through enhancing driving training; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

14. Hon Andrew CHENG to ask: (Translation)

Regarding incidents of erroneous charging at fuel and liquefied petroleum gas ("LPG") filling stations, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)

of the number of complaints about erroneous charging at fuel and LPG filling stations received by the authorities in each of the past three years, broken down by name of suppliers;

(b)

whether it knows the time generally taken by the suppliers concerned to handle and resolve the problems, as well as to refund the overcharged amounts after cases of erroneous charging at fuel and LPG filling stations were uncovered; and

(c)

given that it has been reported that the Sinopec (Hong Kong) Petrol Filling Station Company Limited has announced earlier that owing to erroneous LPG pricing at two of its LPG filling stations in Ma On Shan and Yuen Long between 1 to 28 February this year, it had overcharged by a total of over $20,000, whether there is a mechanism at present for suppliers to report to the Government and the public on their own initiative incidents of erroneous charging at their fuel and LPG filling stations; if so, of the details of the operation of the mechanism; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

15. Dr Hon PAN Pey-chyou to ask: (Translation)

Some members of the education sector have pointed out that although the upper limits on the ratio of graduate posts in public sector primary and secondary schools have been raised to 50% and 85% respectively since the 2009-2010 school year, quite a number of teachers with a recognized degree or equivalent qualifications are still occupying non-graduate teacher posts in primary and secondary schools; hence the education sector still expresses worry about the problem of unequal pay for the same work in schools. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)

among the serving teachers in government and aided primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong, of the respective numbers of those who do not hold any recognized degree or equivalent qualifications as well as those who have such qualifications and are occupying non-graduate teacher posts; and

(b)

whether the authorities have any plan to further increase the upper limits for the ratio of graduate posts in public sector primary and secondary schools, so that all teachers who possess recognized degrees can obtain graduate posts, with a view to improving the current unfair situation of teachers in schools being paid differently for the same work; if they have such a plan, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

16. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)

It was reported that a tour group of 24 travellers arriving at Hong Kong from the Philippines in the evening of 9 March this year was suspected to have been deceived, and had to wait miserably at the Hong Kong International Airport for more than six hours, but were still not received by staff of the travel agency concerned. Such travellers had later learnt that the travel agency and the receiving organization in Hong Kong had not made any accommodation arrangements for them. They had called the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong ("TIC"), the Hong Kong Tourism Board ("HKTB") and the Consulate-General of the Philippines in Hong Kong respectively to seek immediate assistance, but they did not receive any assistance. Finally, the Member of the Legislative Council returned by the tourism functional constituency had arranged for their accommodation for that night and provided them with other assistance. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)

of the respective numbers of cases received by the various government departments concerned in each of the past three years of travellers visiting Hong Kong who requested for emergency assistance; and what established mechanisms or measures are in place for handling such cases;

(b)

whether it has assessed if the cause of HKTB's and TIC's failure to immediately handle the aforesaid case of request for assistance and to provide emergency assistance to such travellers was related to the fact that the incident occurred after office hours; if an assessment has been conducted, of the outcome; if not, whether it will conduct an assessment expeditiously; and

(c)

given that some members of the trade have pointed out that at present, the Tourism Commission, HKTB and TIC do not provide emergency services after office hours to travellers stranded in Hong Kong as a result of being involved in cases similar to the above deception case or other unexpected incidents, of the reasons for not providing such services; whether it has assessed the adverse impact of the lack of such services on the tourism industry in Hong Kong; if an assessment has been conducted, of the outcome; if not, whether it will conduct an assessment expeditiously; and what improvement measures are in place?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

17. Hon LEE Wing-tat to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the sale of the flats in the redevelopment project at Hanoi Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, which was jointly undertaken by the Urban Renewal Authority ("URA") and a private developer, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)

whether it knows the detailed arrangements of the internal sale conducted before the sale of the units of the aforesaid redevelopment project in the open market (including how the decision on which flats were to be put up for internal sale was made and how their prices were set); whether URA has discussed and agreed with the project developer a list of specially-selected buyers; if it has, what the criteria and restrictions were, including whether buyers were prohibited from selling their flats by way of "confirmor sale" (i.e. after signing the formal agreement for sale and purchase with the original property owner, the buyer passes the interests in the agreement to another buyer before the specified date of transaction); whether it has prohibited staff and family members of the project developer and other partners from purchasing flats in their own name or in the names of companies through internal sale, or they were required to obtain the written authorization concerned to participate in internal sale; if they were so required, of the details; when and why URA has agreed to the internal sale arrangements for the aforesaid redevelopment project, as well as the number of flats involved; when the project developer submitted the list of specially-selected buyers to URA, the number of persons involved, and the total number of persons who actually made purchases in the internal sale, when the provisional and formal agreements for sale and purchase were signed, and when the transactions were completed;

(b)

whether it knows if URA has taken the initiative to publicize detailed arrangements for the internal sale of the aforesaid redevelopment project, and replied to the enquiry on the internal sale arrangements from the Apple Daily on 26 August last year; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(c)

given that it was reported that quite a number of tycoons indicated that after purchasing flats of the aforesaid redevelopment project through internal sale, they immediately resold the flats by way of "confirmor sale", whether it knows if URA has followed up the resale situation of such kind of flats;

(d)

given that it was reported that the adjoining flats on the 60th floor of the aforesaid redevelopment project were sold by applications from individual buyers on invitation, whether it knows the relevant details; in what way the other adjoining and duplex flats in the project were sold and its details;

(e)

whether it knows when and in what way in the project developer publicized the prices of the first batch of flats in the aforesaid redevelopment project put up for sale in the open market, and when the sale in the open market officially commenced; the respective numbers of flats put up for sale on the first and second days of the official sale; the total number of flats sold in this way and, among them, the number of those the buyers of which are affiliated with the project partners (such as purchases made in their own name or in the names of companies by the board members, relatives and senior management staff of the partners, etc.), and whether such purchases were executed through the estate agencies under the project developer; whether the authorities will investigate the incident;

(f)

whether it knows the total number of flats in the aforesaid redevelopment project sold to date and, among them, the respective numbers and percentages of those sold through sale in the open market and not through sale in the open market (such as internal sale and applications from individual buyers on invitation, etc.); and the respective numbers of flats purchased in the names of companies and persons;

(g)

in order to avoid estate agencies under the partners of other future redevelopment projects (i.e. estate agents responsible for the sale of the flats of the project) from having priority in purchasing the first batch of flats put up for sale in the open market, so as to generate profits and boost sales, whether it knows if URA will consider adopting the method of drawing lots to decide on the buyers to purchase the first batch of flats for sale in the open market;

(h)

whether it knows if URA will consider expeditiously publicizing on the web sites of other future redevelopment projects detailed information of the sales brochures, prices of flats, as well as daily and aggregate numbers of flats sold, and updating records of agreements for sale and purchase daily, with a view to enhancing transparency; and
(i) according to the information in the sales brochure of the aforesaid redevelopment project, dedicated areas of a total of 736.358 square metres ("m2") are zoned as public pedestrian walkway, the management, operation, repair and maintenance of which will be the responsibilities of property owners, whether it knows such estimated annual expenditure; how the property owners share such expenses; whether 608.03 m2 inside the dedicated areas as defined under the Deed of Dedication can only be used for public pedestrian passage, and not for other purposes (such as letting out for temporary hawking activities, etc.); whether property owners are required to shoulder the management and repair and maintenance costs of the open space for the public, public passage, tunnel connections and accesses as well as public passage and pedestrian subway connections leading to MTR stations within the project area?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

18. Dr Hon David LI to ask:

It has been learnt that the Census and Statistics Department ("C&SD") makes changes to the types of data it collects in its statistical surveys for publication from time to time, and that C&SD has established channels to obtain views from data users, including conducting customer opinion surveys and holding regular meetings with major statistical data users, so as to assist it in determining the types of data to be collected and published. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)

of the number of regular meetings held with major statistical data users in each of the past five years, broken down by major subject of the meetings;

(b)

of the subject headings introduced and suspended respectively in the statistical surveys C&SD had conducted in each of the past five years in response to data users' views;

(c)

of the total number of subjects added to and deleted from the "Hong Kong statistics" in each of the past five years; and

(d)

whether there are objective criteria adopted by C&SD to consider which particular statistics are to be introduced or suspended; if so, of the details of such criteria?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

19. Hon Starry LEE to ask: (Translation)

In 2009, the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau allocated funds to non-governmental organizations to set up and operate four centres in Kwun Tong, Wan Chai, Tuen Mun and Yuen Long to provide support services for ethnic minorities so as to help them integrate into the community. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)

of the number of attendances of ethnic minorities participating in activities or receiving services of each centre since its establishment, together with a breakdown by district of residence, race and age; and

(b)

whether it has planned to increase the number of such centres; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

20. Hon CHEUNG Kwok-che to ask: (Translation)

The Chief Executive announced in his 1998 Policy Address the construction of a centre for development in Chai Wan to provide a focal point for youth development work and activities. The centre is now called the Youth Square and has been commissioned by phases since the end of last year. It has been learnt that the offices and multi-function areas on the 8th and 9th floors of the Youth Square, which has a total area of about 1 300 square metres, have been officially commissioned for leasing to youth groups. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)

of the application procedure and eligibility for leasing the aforesaid offices and multi-function areas; the number of applications received so far and, among them, the respective numbers of those which have been approved and rejected, as well as the reasons for rejecting such applications;

(b)

of the area, rental, name of the leasing group and lease period of the aforesaid various office units (set out in the table below); and

Unit number of the office

Area of the unit

Rental

Name of the leasing group
(or vacant)

Lease period

(c)

whether the authorities have any mechanism in place to subsidize those youth groups which do not have sufficient funds but wish to lease the aforesaid offices?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

III. Statements

Package of Proposals for the Methods for Selecting the Chief Executive and forming the Legislative Council in 2012

:

The Chief Secretary for Administration

IV. Bills

Second Reading (Debate to resume)

Appropriation Bill 2010 : The Financial Secretary

V. Motions

Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance